The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed charges against Bureau of Customs (BOC) chief Isidro Lapeña today at the Department of Justice (DOJ) in connection to drugs that were allegedly hidden in magnetic lifters found in Cavite and Manila in 2018.
The NBI charged Lapeña with 2 counts each of violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, dereliction of duty, and grave misconduct for failing to file complaints against the shippers or consignees of the magnetic lifters found at the Manila International Container Port (MICP) and at General Mariano Alvarez in Cavite in August, reported GMA News.
The lifters found at the MICP contained 500 kilograms of suspected meth (shabu), while the lifters seen in Cavite were empty. However, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) believed that the lifters in Cavite may have contained PHP6.8-billion (US$126.451 million) worth of illegal drugs.
Lapeña first rejected the PDEA’s assumption but later made an about-face and said the lifters could have contained drugs, reported ABS-CBN News.
ABS-CBN News reported that the NBI filed the same charges against former Port of Manila District Collector Vener Baquiran for his failure to declare the lifters at MICP abandoned.
X-ray Inspection Project head Zsae Carrie De Guzman and two BOC officials were also charged for allowing the lifters found in Cavite to pass through the Customs without any issues.
50 others are also facing charges from the NBI for allegedly importing drugs, committing graft, and grave misconduct. This includes former PDEA Deputy Director General for Administration Ismael Fajardo, Jr., former Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Group Officer in Charge Senior Superintendent Eduardo Acierto, and former BOC intelligence agent Jimmy Guban.
In its complaint, the NBI said there was a link between the MICP lifters and the empty lifters found in Cavite. The bureau believed that one syndicate was behind both sets of lifters.
Rappler quoted their complaint, which reads: “The abandoned magnetic lifters at MICP filled with prohibited drugs and those in GMA (General Mariano Alvarez), Cavite, have the same square openings, color, and structure. The square opening is not a design or enhancement, much less, an ornament of the machines and its presence was made intentionally to mark and identify the spot where the illegal drugs were concealed.”
In November, the NBI also charged Lapeña with graft for allowing the release of 105 containers despite their lack of proper documentation. The containers also allegedly did not undergo the required examination before being released from the Port of Manila.
Despite Lapeña’s apparent incompetence, President Rodrigo Duterte made him the director general of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in October. The president said the TESDA post was a promotion because it was a Cabinet position.
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